I don't dress for the school run, I dress for my (wise & avid) life!!

[LetThemEatCake]

continuing from here and quoting esher!!

LOL at the thought of a guest list with the MN names on it Choo!
Getting a cleaner helped save my marriage - well, maybe thats a bit strong but def helped my state of mind and general wellbeing!

Choo - we can be fat as butter together on saturday

I can't believe you don't have a cleaner - I heart my cleaners although better be careful talking about domestic help on mn today .

Right - off to bed as still tired/hungover. Fleecy - you look gorgeous on FB.

Dolcee - glad you had lovely holiday - lucky you having such fab weather.

Oh dear - Spain has won! Poor DS1 looks so disappointed - gave me a withering look when i said that coming second is still a big achievement......!

Sorry for the result ollie and fritzi.

Ta Blossoming - at least I can go to bed now - just gone 11pm here and DS1 on his way to bed - hope he sleeps in in the morning! Nigh all.

Ooh tracey I was fascinated by that thread. I didn't realise it was such a minefield!

Night all - good sleeps all round.

Oh dropped off my 'I'm on' again! I have not caught up this weekend, was up til 2 am on sat night doing blardy paperwork!
BUT! I have been offered a new job which I am VV excited about, I start on the 19th. Wish me luck everybody. This might just be me back in a career as opposed to just a job.

I bought a Vogue today which I just had time to read and am a bit about my AW10 wishlist.

Love the colours for AW, and Arran knit jumpers...have been looking at here but am more than capable of knitting them myself so am loathe to pay that price except for the convenience!
Maybe I should commission my mother to knit me one, she used to handknit for a living along with winkle picking, creel mending and other labour intensive West Coast Highland chores.

I hope everyone is well. Will catch up soon as I plan to give my notice tomorrow and am hoping they don't want me to work it!

All the best...

you okay hf? thinking of you still, glad your dad is comfortable and hope all well.

welcome back Dolce!

forgive me if I have forgotten what all of the other posts said. Teeny bit sloshed, totally necessary after today. Holy hell. That's 6 hours of my life I'll never get back.

to recap:
in laws
churchy peeps
Christian Science churchy peeps therefore no booze
swimming

Can make it to meet up by about 7ish. Will that be okay?

can we have a roll call of attendees please?

ummmm there was more I wanted to say

can't remember.

ummmm.

hmm.

nope, can't remember.

g'night all!

Bongiorno Principessas!

OK, so I am free from whenever this Saturday. Who decides when we meet from, Tracey due to her shopping? And are we settled on Tottenham Court area, or do we need to consider other tube lines beyond the Central Line?

I have roll call as:

• Bunnymother, from 5pm
• Tracey, from xpm
• Cakey, from 7pm-ish

Err, blank from there on... Let's play fill in the blanks?

Sorry about the World Cup, Fritzi and OWW!

choo - The Soho Hotel looks fab! I'm tempted to elope to London for next Saturday. A girl can dream... Hope you're all having fun. I thought those of us who can't come will dress up too and have a virtual meet up with a cocktail in hand on Mumsnet. Not the same though. Promise us details of all your outfits, please [needy emoticon]

cain - Congrats on new job and good luck with handing in resignation today! I did that two weeks ago and it felt really good. Have three months leave so have to stay there until the end of September though.

cakey - Hope you have recovered from six hour -Christian - alhohol free - in laws - swimming- picnic. Any of these things in combination with in laws would tip me over the edge.

OWW - Hope your DCs and DH are not too disappointed. I think the Dutch royal family outshines the Spanish. Laetitia of Spain always looks so sad. I prefer Maxima and Willem-Alexander. Look at how cheerful they are even though they didn't win.

Oh yes, sorry, congrats Cain - that is VERY exciting news!! You must be thrlled!!

Morning all!

Congrats Cain - well done in todays job market!

LTEC - you made it through. I am not surprised you took to drink afterwards though....

Commiserations OWW and Fritzi on the result. Not a great game really was it?

Fleecy - am in awe of your ability to look semi composed and completely attractive in fb pics after that amount of booze! The few pics of me on fb when loads of booze were involved have been posted by someone else and are definitely less than flattering, to say the least...

oh cain!!! fabulous news!! huge congrats to you

Cain - well done on new job! You're probably going to need a whole new wardrobe you know

Morning all!
Congratulations cain! How exciting!!

Staring at the rain again today. I am so bored of this weather I can't tell you.

Looking forward to my London day out on Saturday. Such a shame I won't be able to meet you all.

Congrats Cain! Brilliant.

My oh my I um had a very enjoyable time at party. Lots of champagne for everyone. That is the huge benefit of having summer birthdays. It becomes a garden party for adults too.

Hello everyone
Feeling really pleased with myself today as just back from the gym - I too am as fat as butter and I've recently started eating a bit more again (sort of good as wasn't really eating enough) but that means I've put on weight so I really need to do some exercise to balance it out.
I had been thinking of shredding but realisticaly knew I wouldn't stick at it so decided to join a gym last week.
Really enjoyed it once I was there although had forgotten quite how much stuff you need to lug in with you if you are going to shower/hairwash/get dressed in proper clothes afterwards. I mean, I'm not particularly high maintenance on the products front (no body cream for example) but I think I would need to take:
shampoo
conditioner
shower gel
comb & hairbrush
styling product for hair
deodorant
face moisturiser
make-up - tinted moisturiser, concealer, eye pencil, blusher and lipgloss
I mean, I know you can decant it all into little bottles but still!
Oh and my new melissa jelly sandals came in really useful for the showers (I am really eeeeew about feet on wet floors and veruccas and suchlike , yeuch)

Cakey - I want all the gory details of the religious swimming experience

Cain - well done on the job front

Meet-Up - I think I am on for this - just need to broach with dh exactly when I can clock off and leave him in sole charge - realistically I was thinking I would be there around 7pm as that involves me leaving here at 5.45pm, which means abdicating responsibility for the dd's at 4.30pm -ish in favour of hairwashing and slap applying

BTW, am having a bit of a wobble about make-up - am worried that I have turned into one of those people with incredibly ageing make-up . Although I don't wear loads during the day, for nights out I do favour a full drag queen eye and am pretty heavy handed . Trouble is, I love make-up, the shinier and more pearlised the better in my book. I have asked dh if I need to tone it down/wear less and he says no but although he is generally quite reliable in these things I think I need an independant opinion. So, I was thinking, if I wear my usual bucketload faceful of products on Saturday can you all honestly appraise? Maybe don't tell me on the actual Saturday though or I'll be tissuing it off in the loos all night so tell me afterwards, deal?

You may need to post photos for non-meet-up a&w'ers perusal too esher!

That does sound like a lot of luggage for the gym. Bet you have a great bag in mind though don't you?

The last few days I've shredded at 6am, and it's worked really well for shower etc after. Thing with me is I couldn't do school run/shopping (okay, anything public), without shower, blow dry, full make up.. So it's first thing in the morning, or in the evening when there's no chance of anyone calling, or me going out later.

Esher - I am also a bit more is more on the make-up front too

I've just been chatting to trinny and susannah

Bloss have I missed something? if you are in London Sat, why can't you come?

esher am so excited to meet you, you'd better be there, face full of slap and all!! details on yesterday to follow, maybe on FB so as not to bore everyone here. Well done on gym.

Just back from 5mile run (shredded this morning b4 anyone up) and going to meet a friend from home and her 2 dc at the park. They are here for whole summer, woo hoo!!!

ltec, I live so far away I have to get the 1710 home. It can take 4 hrs each way for me to have my London fix!!
Maybe one day we could all do lunch?

Bloss - I agree is hard to do school run etc in exercise gear with no make-up (I did it this morning but it did feel a bit strange).

Cake - lovely that your friend is over for the whole summer

Weather has taken a slight turn for the worse here - definitely not as hot as at the weekend and forecast is for rain on and off all week

Also meant to say happy holidays to Hells and Hf hope your dad is ok.

Off to peruse the sweaty betty online sale, then school/nursery pick-ups start in a hour so need to get on and do some chores!

Tracey - am glad you are a make-up afficionado too . I think my problem is that I get a bit carried away with all the lovely glittery sparkly things I have and want to use them all at once !!

Esher - think lots of eye make up is good (assuming colours aren't too harsh ie dark brown/grey/navy instead of black eyeliner and its all a bit smudged a la Claudia Winkleman), but lots of panstick foundation w powder is v ageing. So think its about keeping the skin looking dewy and the eyes soft but still coloured, do you agree? If you think you have that bit sorted, imagine you look quite foxy. I love a smoky eye and so does DH (wish I was better at it - sometimes look a bit too tranny-ish). But all that chat aside, will def tell you. If you are looking for honest opinions on things, I'm your girl!

And well done ladies on the exercise front - all very impressive!!

Re gym, don't you just have a gym bag w travel sized toiletries that you keep in there? That's what I used to do and found it v easy once I had the bag sorted.

traceyb, I saw your question to T&S. What a perfect answer for you!!

Hello from rainy Holland! Got caught out in the rain this morning - took DSs to farmpark on the bikes and then the heavens opened and we had no choice but to cycle home! All 3 of us were soaked to the skin - boys thought it all highly amusing! We are now doing painting/glittering/sticking at the table (and I'm sitting on my hands and trying not to get too twitchy about all the mess thats in front of me!!!! ).

Fantastic news re your job Cain. Hope your can enjoy your notice period. Can't remember what it is you do tho!

Fritzi - agree re Dutch royal family - always seem v happy and relaxed. DS1 not too upset! Woke up at 8am after his late night so expecting meltdown before teatime!

Cos of the rain, am now in outfit No 2! NL turn up cargo trousers in beige, tan sandals with ankle cuff and a white linen grandad shirt with white tank underneath - was going for a Ralph Lauren look - done on the cheap!